Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 45 - 41 The Truth of Dark Sand

Chapter 45: Chapter 41 The Truth of Dark Sand

At 10 p.m., Du Gang had submitted his report for the day and re-entered the game world of "Dark Sand."

This was the sixth day since the epoch-making virtual reality game had officially begun its testing phase.

Within these six days, the game had accumulated tremendous popularity, especially the videos of players completing the game had become everyday talk among players—the popularity was almost unparalleled, dominating major sections of gaming forums and news media worldwide.

As of now, the players who still firmly believed it was a massive scam had become increasingly fewer.

The majority of players’ attitudes had morphed into eager anticipation and frustrated longing.

Although most of the testing qualifications for "Dark Sand" were given to players within the country, there were also a small number of slots allocated abroad.

These foreign players were few, but after multiple rounds of selection, almost all were top-tier gaming experts with considerable follower bases and credibility on websites.

Thus, as these individuals praised "Dark Sand" immensely, more and more players who hadn’t played the game began to believe that it truly was an epoch-making virtual reality game made with mysterious cutting-edge technology.

It was only unknown when officials would increase the testing slots as previously stated.

So far, foreign players had not shown exceptional qualities in completing the game, simply because they lacked crucial knowledge—knowledge of Huaxia history.

They could only wait for domestic players to release completion videos and guides, translate them into other languages, and then these foreign players might try to complete the game.

In response to this, many foreign players were also calling for "Dark Sand" to soon introduce instances with Western professions and history.

The official response was: there would be, but not in the short term.

The officials did not offer much explanation, but the phrase "there would be" was like offering foreign players a slice of hope, temporarily soothing their feelings.

The real reason was simple but undisclosed.

"Dark Sand" was not just a game—it was actually history that had already occurred.

History is a river connecting ancient times with reality, and only Huaxia history has a complete lineage from ancient times to the present. Much Western history either has only the part near contemporary times or had experienced dynasty breaks long ago, lacking in both completeness and continuity.

Thus, even if "Dark Sand" would introduce instances of Western history in the future, they would undoubtedly be prioritized lower and only serve as side quests.

Currently, Meng Yuan hadn’t even completely figured out the Huaxia history set, and definitely didn’t have the resources to focus on historical segments related to Western history.

Anyway, the game was getting more and more popular.

But Du Gang’s investigation of the game was still making no progress.

Even though he had already completed the assassin trial.

Entering the world of "Dark Sand" as usual, Du Gang pondered whether to visit other trial instances or continue refining his assassin instance completion process.

Just as he was torn about this, suddenly, the space before his eyes rippled like water.

A young man with delicate features and a handsome yet somewhat somber face appeared before him.

Du Gang was taken aback because he had seen this person before.

Wasn’t this the "Dissuader Brother" he had met when he first entered the game "Dark Sand"?

He was still in the same location as when he entered the trial instance, floating in the sky-high palace surrounded by mist, with massive white stone pillars stretching into the skies, resembling the dwelling of immortals.

The first time he had come here, he had encountered this Dissuader Brother, wearing the title "Mediocre Reorderer Who Failed the Trial," spreading negativity before handing him a special Jade Pendant that allowed entrance to the trial instance, symbolizing the inheritance of a reorderer’s identity.

Clearly, that was all a scripted plot set up by the game, and every player would encounter this Brother and go through the same process upon entering the game.

But after that, the Dissuader Brother had never appeared again.

"Mr. Du Gang, hello.

"Let me reintroduce myself. I am the operations manager of the game ’Dark Sand’; you can call me ’Beichen’.

"I know your identity is special, so today I would like to have a frank discussion with you.

"You may ask any questions you have, and I will do my best to help you find the answers."

Meng Yuan gave a brief self-introduction. Although both face and name were aliases, his role as the game’s operational manager was genuinely legitimate.

Meng Yuan dared not reveal that he was the chief designer of the game, although it had been developed only by him and Dark Sand, whose role resembled more that of a programmer or miscellaneous planner. However, Meng Yuan was also quite self-aware, realizing that he could not truly claim to have designed the game himself.

At most, he could be considered an operational staff member.

Du Gang was taken aback.

On one hand, he was somewhat surprised; the game’s officials had always been very mysterious, displaying an indifferent attitude to everyone. Yet, this time, they had sent such a high-ranking internal officer to meet him, which was indeed unexpectedly flattering.

An operational manager held a position in a game’s architecture that could almost equate with that of the chief designer.

On the other hand, he was filled with caution.

For Du Gang did not know how the other party had learned about his "special identity"!

As the leader of a special operations team within a secret department, his work was highly confidential, and there was virtually no possibility of any leak. Naturally, the other party’s assured demeanor made Du Gang very cautious.

Thinking about the mystery of this secretive company, including the currently unexplainable advanced technologies like brainwave pattern recognition, perhaps the priority of this issue could be deferred.

Meng Yuan beckoned, and two large stone chairs, fitting the scene, appeared. He indicated for Du Gang to sit down.

These chairs were not actually comfortable, but there was no choice, he had to maintain his own dignity.

Then, Meng Yuan gestured with his hand toward Du Gang, who noticed that between two fingers of his right hand, a lit cigarette had appeared, without his knowledge, and it was his favorite brand.

"Please, feel free," Meng Yuan said.

Du Gang fell silent for a moment before finally speaking, "Thank you."

It seemed that this manager named Beichen knew much more about him than he had imagined. He even knew that he smoked, and the specific brand he preferred.

This seemed beyond the scope of a simple leak of information.

Du Gang took a drag on the cigarette and found that the flavor was the same as in reality, but here, when he exhaled, no smoke came out—it seemed that second-hand smoke was simply ignored in this virtual world.

After the pleasantries, it was time to get to the main topic.

Du Gang had many doubts, but he could only ask them one by one.

"Mr. Beichen, what kind of company are you actually? Where is it located? Where does your virtual reality game technology come from?"

Meng Yuan did not immediately answer but held back a bit.

"I can give you a very clear answer to these questions. But, knowing the truth, you will no longer be able to access some very crucial parts of the ’Dark Sand’ game.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

Du Gang hesitated briefly, then nodded, "Sure."

Although he enjoyed "Dark Sand" quite a lot, whether out of job necessity or personal responsibility, he had to know the truth. Missing out on part of the game experience was not too great a sacrifice for him.

Meng Yuan nodded, clearly having anticipated Du Gang’s choice.

"Alright, then I’ll be straightforward. After all, ’Dark Sand’ needs your cooperation to continue misleading the players.

"Actually, ’Dark Sand’ is not a game.

"What you saw in the game’s CG about the Restorers is true.

"There really are demons living and stirring in the past, trying to alter the historical timeline, even trying to step into reality and endanger humankind.

"And ’Dark Sand’ is actually a special selection program for those Restorers, aimed at choosing the right candidates to go into specific historical segments to eliminate those demons and safeguard humanity’s safety.

"And all that unexplainable science and technology you’ve seen are actually the special powers of the Restorers."

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